


Tampering

by stephanericher



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Established Relationship, KNBxNBA, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 03:07:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19242568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: It had been really good basketball, the kind of things Taiga would have seen on television as a middle-schooler and gone out and tried to teach himself, things he’d have to actively not clap for because they look so good and make him want to play. The league can't fine him for that.





	Tampering

The league gets Taiga up at ass o'clock in the morning when he's still in bed, wrapped around Shougo in a tangle with the sheets. It's too early for an alarm to go off, too early for any call to make his phone ring except an important one (or something from another time zone). This, unfortunately, turns out to be both, since the caller ID shows his agent.

"Yes?"

"Taiga, hi."

"Hi," says Taiga automatically, and his first thought is  _ shit, did my dick pics end up on the internet? _

His second thought is that Shougo is still asleep, well-deserved rest after forty minutes of play in a decisive finals game 2 victory, and this phone call is not going to be the thing that wakes him up.

Taiga extracts his arm from where Shougo has it pinned, and it's difficult not to stop and admire Shougo's arm, the evident toned muscle and the collision of twenty different tattoos, the fish scales and maple leaves and words and stars and all the rest. 

"The league wants to meet with you."

"Okay?" Taiga says, standing up and moving toward the door.

The suite's sitting room is about as nice as Shougo's living room, where Taiga would much rather be right now instead of some snazzy Bay Area hotel full of lawyers and prospective Google interns. And in that fantasy, there are no nosy league people (or agents) to stop Taiga from going right back to bed. Though, if Taiga's being honest with himself, or even halfway honest, he knows this is about last night, and that flying back to Toronto with Shougo wouldn't change anything.

"Like a teleconference?" Taiga says.

"In person. With the commissioner."

"I'm in San Francisco."

"So is he. He was at last night’s game, too, you know."

Shit. “What do I say?"

"Well," says his agent. "Given the league's recent love of tampering fees, especially related to Haizaki and his impending free agency status, it's probably about that. I don't care if you are trying to bring him to Chicago, but deny it the whole way and don't fight it if they slap you with a fine anyway."

Easy for her to say. Taiga scowls.

"Okay."

"I'm sending you the email with the time and place."

"Thanks," says Taiga, though he can't muster up much gratitude in his voice.

He waits for the email to come through, slumping back on the couch. That fucked up his mood. Going back to bed doesn't seem like a real possibility anymore, especially when he might wake up Shougo and instead of being able to praise his game again or get a nice round of morning sex in, he'll be grumpy and annoyed. 

Taiga replays last night in his head.

He’d come up from LA yesterday, sick of being so close and so far away from Shougo at once (and after watching the first three games from a bar that was more anti-Warriors than pro-Raptors hadn’t really been cutting it). He’d bought the ticket himself, expensive as shit despite being not too close to the action, just close enough for Shougo to see him. He hadn’t been wearing Raptors gear of any kind (though he had borrowed Shougo's Blue Jays fitted with the Toronto skyline on it) or started any fan chants. The cameras had caught him, as had a few hardcore fans who'd wanted autographs and selfies before that, and sure, he'd stood up and clapped obnoxiously for a couple of Shougo's plays, but only those. But it had been really good basketball, the kind of things Taiga would have seen on television as a middle-schooler and gone out and tried to teach himself, things he’d have to actively not clap for because they look so good and make him want to play. The league can't fine him for that.

* * *

Apparently, they can, and do, and Taiga’s out fifty thousand for quote-unquote tampering to an entity that needs the money less than he does (which, to be fair, is not that much, but it’s about the principle). It’s not as easy to get over as the few times he’s been fined for in-game crap; that at least has some kind of precedence and assurance that dozens of other people have been hit with the same fine for similar things. Tatsuya, despite having racked up more disciplinary action in less pro service time than Taiga, is not as sympathetic as Taiga wants him to be.

"This is bullshit," says Taiga. "Is fucking acknowledging Shou exists tampering now?"

"You did a lot more than that," says Tatsuya. "But yes, it is bullshit."

Taiga sighs. "He won't leave Canada. Even if the front office was interested, and we had the cap room…"

"I know that, but the league doesn't," says Tatsuya. "Especially after Alex got hit with a fine for saying he was good on television, you should have known this was going to happen."

"I can afford it. I just want to cheer on my boyfriend. No one's getting fined for cheering for the fucking Warriors."

"They're not in the front row in Toronto rooting for the best player on the away team in his walk year."

"Well, no," says Taiga. "But...it's so arbitrary!" 

“Taiga,” says Tatsuya. 

“Tatsuya,” says Taiga.

“Just...don’t do anything stupid.”

“They’re the stupid ones,” says Taiga.

* * *

According to Tatsuya, “anything stupid” includes flying to Toronto, but Taiga doesn’t buy wi-fi on the flight and keeps his phone turned off. Tatsuya can be angry with him later, and he’ll cool down when Taiga’s back (Taiga will, too, for that matter). He knows Tatsuya’s looking out for him, but he can make his own decisions, including this one.

And he’s not going to the game this time, so Tatsuya can’t be mad about that. He’ll watch it from Shougo’s leather couch on his deluxe flatscreen and, while it won’t be the same as seeing Shougo pick up the trophy in person, there’s almost a sense that this isn’t his moment, that while he’s obviously important to Shougo, this belongs to him and to Toronto. It’s the same reason Shougo stayed away when Taiga had won (though he would have loved for Shougo to be there). 

Except he has to watch the Raptors lose on television, again, alone; the game is close but close doesn’t cut it, the close-ups on Kise’s face, the rest of the Warriors, now within snapping distance of another trophy. Fuck. Shougo looks drained, still determined; of course he can hang on and of course the Raptors will finish it out, one way or another. But it hurts to watch anyway, like a stem bent by the wind, salvageable but delicate. 

Taiga sends a text Shougo’s way,  _ Waiting for you at home. _

The TV has cut back to the TSN talking heads, dissecting every play and every player’s media answers, by the time Shougo texts back a string of exclamation points. Taiga turns it off; there’s no way Shougo wants to see that.

Shougo clings to him before he’s all the way through the door like a dog who won’t let go, the smell of his cologne overpowering Taiga in the best way. He should have just come here yesterday, for the first two games in the series; he should have been with him the whole way. 

“I’m sorry,” Taiga says, for that, for tonight.

“Don’t be,” Shougo says.

His voice is hoarse; his lips are soft. This is out of the league’s jurisdiction.

**Author's Note:**

> the hat i mentioned taiga wearing *was* a real item a while back...might have been [this](https://www.hatland.com/hats/blue-jays-alt-city-scape-viza-black-fitted-new-era-15673/) or at least that's the most similar one i could find lol
> 
> takes place sometime before 'break the ice' i guess?


End file.
